The measure of a man is not found in the eloquence of his speech to the crowd even to the exposition of profound Truth, but in the quality of his response to his brother, neighbor or friend. Seems like there’s a verse in Scripture that relates to that comparison…… something about tongues of men and angels.
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Love Wins by Rob Bell Much ado about very little. Without the pre-publication hysteria created by self appointed keepers of the Gates of the Kingdom, the book would have experienced minimal sales and even less of an impact in the reading. Bell uses a straw man argument seemingly comprised of stories from his childhood and/or stories collected from his years of public ministry. These involved the hurts of unhappy people relating negative experiences with church ministries and church people to create a hypothetical representation of the entirety of the Christian church which he then soundly criticizes for failing to live up to the mandates he derives from Scripture. Without even challenging his interpretation of Scripture, his logical approach brings into question the soundness of his conclusions. Introductory courses in Argumentation and Debate involve the creation of more sound arguments than Bell has used to make his case in this book. The publicity generated by the harshness and hysteria of Bell’s critics all but guaranteed exceeding even the most hopeful projections of the publisher: a place on the list of Best Selling new releases. More attention was drawn to this book than the book itself warranted. As one who approached the read with a sympathetic ear, unfortunately I can’t reach any other conclusion but that the best thing about the book, Live Wins, is the title.
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